Human Rights in Egypt

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I'm starting this thread to track news articles about Human Rights related issues in Egypt. I think it's important for anyone who is going there to read and know about.

Angry Egypt cancels talks with EU officials

By Alaa Shahine

Reuters

Saturday, January 19, 2008; 11:58 AM

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has cancelled talks with senior European Union officials after the bloc criticized the Arab country's human rights record, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Egyptian analysts and rights activists said the government overreacted by cancelling the talks, which were due to cover a range of political issues including democracy and human rights.

But they said the squabble was unlikely to have longer-term repercussions, in part because issues such as trade ties were more important to both sides. The EU is Egypt's biggest trade partner. It accounts for nearly 43 percent of Egyptian imports and 31 percent of exports, including natural gas, according to the EU's website.

The spat arose after a European Parliament resolution, passed on Thursday, called on Egypt "to end all forms of harassment, including judicial measures, detention of media professionals and, more generally, human rights defenders and activists."

It also called for the immediate release of opposition politician Ayman Nour and for a change in the law on military courts, which critics say Egyptian authorities have sometimes used against the government's political opponents.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said the resolution had created a "tense atmosphere" that made holding the two-day meeting of the EU-Egypt Subcommittee on Political Matters "at this stage inappropriate." The talks were had been due to take place in Cairo on Wednesday and Thursday.

Some Egyptian lawmakers called for ties with the European Parliament to be suspended.

Local and international human rights groups say torture is systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. They also criticize the government for cracking down on political dissidents, journalists and bloggers who oppose its policies. Cairo denies systematic human rights violations.

"The Egyptian response was exaggerated and (reflected) a high degree of tension," political analyst Amr El-Choubaki said. He said Egypt hoped to discourage the EU from similar criticism in the future by cancelling the talks.

Mohamed El Sayed Said, a political commentator and editor of the leftist al-Badeel daily, said the issue would not harm bilateral relations, even though Egypt "will not implement any kind of (democratic) reforms.

"The issue will cool down in a couple of weeks and both sides will be negotiating new (trade) agreements again."

Egyptian rights activists have long criticised the European Union for not pushing President Hosni Mubarak for more freedoms and democratic reforms. They also blame U.S. President George W. Bush for abandoning his campaign for democracy in the largely autocratic Middle East.

"They (Egyptian authorities) are still euphoric that Bush is leaving (office next year) without carrying out the political reform he wanted for the region," said prominent rights activist Hesham Kassem. (Writing by Alaa Shahine; Editing by Caroline Drees)

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[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

EU human rights criticism puts Egypt on the defensive

2 hours ago

An Egyptian protester breaks through a cordon of riot police with a national flag

CAIRO (AFP) — European Union criticism of Egypt's human rights record has forced government officials on the defensive over allegations of torture, the decades-old emergency law and the status of minorities.

Lawmakers present at the European parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday voted in favour of a resolution criticising Egypt's human rights record.

The resolution ruffled feathers in Cairo, with government officials slamming it as a flagrant interference in domestic affairs.

The text even prompted Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, long criticised by rights groups for cases of alleged torture in police custody, to hold his first ever chat with prisoners inside a prison, in a highly publicised visit.

"Egypt is committed to the protection of human rights in all security areas, including prisons and police stations," he said.

"The modernisation of prisons and the care provided to prisoners is proof of (Egypt's) respect for human rights," he said, touring facilities around Cairo prisons.

Rights groups say that abuse by security forces, including torture, is widespread in Egypt and that most cases go unpunished. Authorities say abusers are brought to justice.

Former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali, who now heads the government National Council for Human Rights, said that while a dialogue on human rights was healthy, there can be no universal measure for judging rights records.

"Egypt's human rights record is good," Boutros Ghali told the state-owned Al-Ahram daily in an interview.

"There is no ideal example of human rights that can be applied to all countries... The circumstances of every country differ," said the former UN chief, himself an Egyptian.

The resolution drew the customary knee-jerk reactions from Egypt's diplomatic circles who slammed it as interference, but in an unusually harsh tone, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit rejected it as arrogant and ignorant.

Ahead of the vote, he summoned 27 EU ambassadors in Cairo to protest the text.

"Egypt totally rejects attempts by anyone who takes it upon himself to be an investigator of human rights in Egypt," Abul Gheit said on Friday.

"Egypt does not need lessons from anyone, particularly if this party is arrogant and ignorant."

The resolution also called for the immediate release of jailed dissident Ayman Nur who mounted a campaign against President Hosni Mubarak in the country's first contested presidential elections in 2005.

An ailing Nur is currently serving a five-year sentence on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

The toothless nature of the resolution allowed Cairo to flex its muscles, at least for domestic consumption, observers said.

"Cairo's overreaction is intended to exploit the limited and insignificant European resolution to defend the gloomy state of human rights in Egypt which could be the Achilles heel of the regime," columnist Abdullah Iskandar wrote in the pan-Arab Al-Hayat.

The secular opposition movement Kefaya welcomed the resolution, saying it was time for Egypt's human rights violations to be exposed, while some in ruling circles saw it as a move to deliberately incite sectarianism.

Adly Hussein, governor of a Nile Delta province and member of the EU-Egyptian Association Council, in comments to the official MENA news agency, said he regretted the fact that the text "brought up issues of the utmost sensitivity" such as the status of religious minorities including Christian Copts and Bahais in Egypt.

"This issue is aimed at inciting sectarianism in Egypt... All Egyptians are united," he said.

In a November report, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said members of minority religions in Egypt suffer daily discrimination.

International organisations have repeatedly expressed concern about human rights in Egypt, including continued crackdowns on political dissent and the state of emergency in effect since 1981.

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[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Movies critical of police and government become hits in Egypt

4 hours ago

By: The Canadian Press

CAIRO, Egypt - The latest hit movie in Egypt opens with footage of Egyptian police brutally beating democracy protesters and ends with angry masses storming a police station where demonstrators are being tortured. The audiences cheer.

The film, "Heya Fawda" - Arabic for "It's Chaos" - is a rare frank look at police torture, corruption and political oppression that rights groups say is widespread in this top U.S. ally. It has been pulling in viewers and raising controversy since it opened in November.

"Egypt's anti-Egypt cinema" ran a headline earlier this month in Rose el-Youssef, a staunchly pro-government newspaper, whose editor wrote several long editorials denouncing the movie and accusing it of inciting people to revolt.

The movie comes at a time of intense polarization in Egypt. The government has successfully suppressed a wave of pro-democracy protests that erupted in 2005, arresting secular activists as well as hundreds of members of the main opposition movement, the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.

But a layer of discontent with the rule of President Hosni Mubarak continues. The government has been faced over the past year by a string of labour strikes - more than 500 in 2007, demanding salary raises as the gap between rich and poor grows.

At the same time, bloggers have become more prominent in exposing police abuse. Videos of police torturing detainees have been posted on activists' Web sites, prompting authorities for the first time to prosecute and imprison several officers.

Even U.S. President George W. Bush made a veiled reference to Egypt's treatment of jailed dissidents in a speech last week in Abu Dhabi.

"You cannot build trust when you hold an election where opposition candidates find themselves harassed or in prison," Bush said. "And you cannot stand up a modern and confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms."

"It's Chaos" was directed by one of Egypt's most esteemed filmmakers, 82-year-old Youssef Chahine, and Khaled Youssef, a longtime Chahine protege.

"My movies are not calling for chaos, they are warning of it," Youssef told The Associated Press. The film "is not about torture, its about the repression and corruption that prevail in the Egyptian authority."

Audiences have responded: "It's Chaos" has already made more than US$2 million in the first month, more than any of Chahine's previous 30 movies did.

It tells the story of a corrupt policeman, Hatem, who tortures detainees with beatings and electrical shocks, takes bribes and stalks - and eventually rapes - the girl who lives next door to him, Nour.

The movie does make some apparent concessions to government sensitivities, likely aimed at ensuring it got past state censors. It begins with a statement saying the film does not intend to depict the police as a whole, only a few bad apples. It also depicts a heroic public prosecutor - Nour's fiance - who pursues Hatem and eventually brings him down, a nod to the recent prosecutions of police torture.

But it also shows Hatem's superiors in the police covering up for his crimes and has some pointed criticisms of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party.

"You have been crushing our hearts for more than 24 years. This is enough," the prosecutor's mother shouts at an NDP election candidate in one scene. In another plot line, the daughter of a top NDP official takes drugs, gets pregnant outside marriage and gets an abortion.

It also starts off with real footage taken from 2005 democracy protests that were put down by police beating and dragging away demonstrators.

It is not the first Egyptian movie to tackle the issue of torture - but it is one of the few that shows it so overtly.

"I didn't know there is such torture at police stations or prisons for ordinary people," said one viewer, Amal Zaki, 25, as she was leaving the theatre. "I thought they only torture terrorists," she added.

Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adly defended the police Thursday, saying the entire force should not be criticized for the mistakes of a few officers.

"We can tolerate criticism and transparent review according to the rule of law and commitment to the constitution," el-Adly said during a speech celebrating police day in Egypt. "But we reject that individual mistakes be exaggerated in order to propagate the sick and weird delusions of some."

"It's Chaos" was followed by another sharply critical film - "Hayna Maysara," Arabic for "Until Things Get Better," about the inhuman conditions in Egyptian slums.

"Until Things Get Better" directed by Youssef, touches on a whole range of social ills and taboos - prostitution, drugs, promiscuous sex, lesbianism, street children and Islamic militancy - and shows security forces tackling problems with tear gas and brutal crackdowns.

It too sparked heavy denunciations in the pro-government press and constant debate on television.

Khaled el-Sergani, a columnist in the independent daily newspaper Al-Destour, said the criticism only highlights the reality of the films. "Why else would all these government writers be up in arms against them," he wrote.

General Fouad Allam, former head of state security police, warned that "It's Chaos" will "make people sympathize with the citizens against the police, it will reinforce us versus them. This is not in the state's interest."

"It's Chaos" ends with the angry masses storming the police station to liberate jailed political activists. Hatem, the police officer, shoots himself after he tries to kill the prosecutor.

"Until Things Get Better" ends with police surrounding a slum as they chase terrorists, who battle police then set the area on fire. The terrorists escape, while many of the poor die in the blaze.

The final cut is to a message from the director, Youssef, apologizing to the viewers "for failing to depict the real slum dwellers. Their life is far harsher."

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[Ban Hammer 13,334]

olivia, investigative reporter

good articles!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thx!

olivia, investigative reporter

good articles!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I get what she is trying to do making a film about Human Rights in Egypt. However, I have to make a point here since I just took Documentary class last semester. I learned that any filmmaker that attempts to "reconstruct" a scene for a documentary film is discrediting themselves because it would not be a true documentary. It's true what the Egyptian government is calling it because it is "fabrication" and any serious documentary filmmaker would not want to make this mistake and be tainted by the film society.

Al-Jazeera Journalist Arrested in Egypt

By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD – 37 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — An Al-Jazeera journalist already appealing one jail sentence was arrested again Monday while filming a documentary, allegedly without a proper license, her lawyer and police said.

Egyptian Howaida Taha, 44, a documentary producer for the pan-Arab TV news channel, was filming in a low-income neighborhood in Cairo when police detained her in the morning. Police later questioned her long into the evening, her lawyer Ahmed Helmi told The Associated Press.

Helmi, who was with Taha during the interrogation, said it was not clear whether his client would remain in custody overnight.

"She is under a constant police watch, they want to ban her from working in Egypt," Helmi said. He added that Taha had all the needed permissions issued from the Egyptian press center.

A police official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed the arrest and said four other people also were detained, including three crew members and an Egyptian human rights activist. All remained in custody.

Taha, who is known for her criticism of the Egyptian regime, was first detained last January for two days for possessing 50 video tapes that police alleged contained fabricated scenes of torture by Egyptian police. At the time, Taha said the footage was a "reconstruction" for her documentary on police torture in Egypt.

She was sentenced in May to six months in jail after a Cairo state security court found her guilty of "harming the country's interests" by "fabricating" the torture scenes.

At the time of her sentencing, Taha was in Doha, Qatar, where Al-Jazeera has its headquarters. She later returned to Egypt to appeal the verdict, and a decision on her appeal is expected Feb. 11, her lawyer said.

The torture documentary, "Beyond the Sun," was aired on Al-Jazeera in April, as Taha had kept copies of the confiscated tapes.

Rights groups say torture, including sexual abuse, is routinely conducted in Egyptian police stations. The government denies systematic torture but has investigated several officers on allegations of abuse. Some were convicted and sentenced to prison.

The documentary Taha was working on when she was detained Monday, "In the Shadow," deals with people living on the edge of society.

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[Ban Hammer 13,334]

seems like freedom of the press is a new concept over there

[monnik 0]

Human Rights in Egypt

In the same category as Tooth Fairy, Keebler elves, and painless waxing !!!

I agree, Olivia. You're doing some great investigating and reading. I like your articles !

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thx!

Human Rights in Egypt

In the same category as Tooth Fairy, Keebler elves, and painless waxing !!!

I agree, Olivia. You're doing some great investigating and reading. I like your articles !

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Landmark case for converting back to Christianity from Islam.

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[monnik 0]

I read about that, Olivia, in my Egyptian Gazette.... It's printed in English & my husband brings me one every morning to work !! I love it.

That article was interesting ! Thanks.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Really Awesome!

I read about that, Olivia, in my Egyptian Gazette.... It's printed in English & my husband brings me one every morning to work !! I love it.

That article was interesting ! Thanks.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

I get what she is trying to do making a film about Human Rights in Egypt. However, I have to make a point here since I just took Documentary class last semester. I learned that any filmmaker that attempts to "reconstruct" a scene for a documentary film is discrediting themselves because it would not be a true documentary. It's true what the Egyptian government is calling it because it is "fabrication" and any serious documentary filmmaker would not want to make this mistake and be tainted by the film society.

Al-Jazeera Journalist Arrested in Egypt

By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD – 37 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — An Al-Jazeera journalist already appealing one jail sentence was arrested again Monday while filming a documentary, allegedly without a proper license, her lawyer and police said.

Egyptian Howaida Taha, 44, a documentary producer for the pan-Arab TV news channel, was filming in a low-income neighborhood in Cairo when police detained her in the morning. Police later questioned her long into the evening, her lawyer Ahmed Helmi told The Associated Press.

Helmi, who was with Taha during the interrogation, said it was not clear whether his client would remain in custody overnight.

"She is under a constant police watch, they want to ban her from working in Egypt," Helmi said. He added that Taha had all the needed permissions issued from the Egyptian press center.

A police official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed the arrest and said four other people also were detained, including three crew members and an Egyptian human rights activist. All remained in custody.

Taha, who is known for her criticism of the Egyptian regime, was first detained last January for two days for possessing 50 video tapes that police alleged contained fabricated scenes of torture by Egyptian police. At the time, Taha said the footage was a "reconstruction" for her documentary on police torture in Egypt.

She was sentenced in May to six months in jail after a Cairo state security court found her guilty of "harming the country's interests" by "fabricating" the torture scenes.

At the time of her sentencing, Taha was in Doha, Qatar, where Al-Jazeera has its headquarters. She later returned to Egypt to appeal the verdict, and a decision on her appeal is expected Feb. 11, her lawyer said.

The torture documentary, "Beyond the Sun," was aired on Al-Jazeera in April, as Taha had kept copies of the confiscated tapes.

Rights groups say torture, including sexual abuse, is routinely conducted in Egyptian police stations. The government denies systematic torture but has investigated several officers on allegations of abuse. Some were convicted and sentenced to prison.

The documentary Taha was working on when she was detained Monday, "In the Shadow," deals with people living on the edge of society.

Source

I have an egyptian friend who just visited a copt church. the police saw him and took him to the police station and tortured him for 2 days screamed at him, hitting him and shocking him. It was 5 years ago and he is still messed up in the head

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Seriously Cindy Sheehan takes her activism to Egypt? Woah!

U.S. peace activist protests Egypt military trials

Wed 13 Feb 2008, 15:42 GMT

By Cynthia Johnston

CAIRO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan pressed Egypt on Wednesday to free members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood who are on trial in a military court, urging leniency for the sake of their families.

Egypt sent 40 members of the Brotherhood including its No. 3, Khairat el-Shater, to a military court a year ago. The men, six of whom are being tried in absentia, are the first Brotherhood members to face military trials since 2001.

Most of the serious charges, including terrorism and money laundering, were dropped in December, but the men are still charged with belonging to a banned group. A verdict is due on Feb. 26.

"I'm a mother whose son was killed in Iraq. I know what these families are going through -- stress and trauma," said Sheehan, who became a leading U.S. anti-war activist after her son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004.

On a visit to Cairo to protest against the military trials, she added: "So as a mother, I'm asking for leniency from the Egyptian government, not only for the Muslim Brotherhood people, but for their children and their families also."

Dozens of police kept Sheehan and 200 Egyptian protesters cordoned off on a Nile river promenade in central Cairo as foreign tourists gawked, but they did not stop the protest.

Speaking over a loudhailer opposite government and ruling party offices, Sheehan accused Egypt of using the military court "as a last resort to guarantee a guilty verdict" and said U.S. aid to Egypt should be tied to better human rights practices.

Local and international rights groups including Amnesty International have criticised the military trial as unfair. Egypt has barred independent observers from the court.

"Freedom, where are you?" read a banner held by one protester. "We miss you, dad" read another, with a photograph.

Several protesters, mostly the wives and children of the Brotherhood detainees, held banners or wore shirts emblazoned with slogans comparing the children of the Muslim Brotherhood detainees to Sheehan's son. "She lost her son, we lost our husbands and fathers," said Brotherhood detainee Khairat el-Shater's daughter Zahraa, 30.

Aisha Hassan Malek, the 11-year-old daughter of one of the Brotherhood men, said: "I just want them to be found innocent and return to us and their families as soon as possible." The non-violent Muslim Brotherhood, which holds a fifth of the seats in Egypt's parliament, seeks an Islamic state through democratic means and operates openly despite a decades-old ban.

The government often detains Brotherhood members without charge, and a spokesman for the group said nearly 350 are currently in detention. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston, editing by Tim Pearce)

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[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Egypt police 'widen HIV arrests'

Egyptian police have arrested four men suspected of being HIV positive, bringing the total detained in a recent crackdown to 12, rights groups say.

Men accused of being homosexual are tortured by police, HRW alleges

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said last week that HIV-positive Egyptian men had been chained to hospital beds and forced to undergo tests for the virus.

The latest arrests took place after police followed up information coerced from men already detained, HRW said.

The Egyptian interior ministry has not responded to the allegations.

In a joint press release, Amnesty International and HRW warned that Egypt's efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus could be seriously damaged by the arrests.

"This not only violates the most basic rights of people living with HIV. It also threatens public health, by making it dangerous for anyone to seek information about HIV prevention or treatment," said Rebecca Schleifer, who works on HIV/Aids issues at HRW.

Two of the newly-detained men tested positive for HIV, and are awaiting further hearings, HRW said.

Homosexuality 'tests'

The rights organisations say a wave of arrests began in October 2007, when two men were arrested after a scuffle in central Cairo.

When one said he was HIV-positive they were taken to the police branch which deals with issues of public morality, HRW said.

Both men said they had been beaten for refusing to sign statements written by the police and subjected to ####### examinations to "prove" that they had engaged in homosexual conduct, the group said.

Two more men were arrested when police found their photographs and contact numbers in the wallets of those detained, HRW said.

All four men, who have not been identified, remain in custody pending a prosecutor's decision on possible charges.

Four further arrests were made in November when police raided the flat of one of those being held, which had been placed under surveillance, HRW reports.

Those four men were sentenced to one year in jail in January having been convicted of "habitual debauchery", which Human Rights Watch says is a euphemism used to penalise consensual homosexual acts.

Their lawyers claimed the prosecution had produced no evidence against the defendants, who pleaded not guilty.

All those who have tested positive have been held, chained to their beds, in Cairo hospitals, the rights groups said.

While not explicitly referred to in Egypt's legal code, homosexuality can be punished under several different laws covering obscenity, prostitution and debauchery.

Egypt has come under repeated criticism by both human rights groups and the international community for its treatment of homosexual people.

"These cases show Egyptian police acting on the dangerous belief that HIV is not a condition to be treated but a crime to be punished," Gasser Abdel-Razek, HRW's acting director of regional relations in the Middle East, told the BBC.

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